As expected, Microsoft has just announced that Windows 8 has been released to manufacturing (RTM). As we speak, the final build of the OS is being released to OEMs and manufacturing partners, and will come pre-installed on a slew of PCs (and tablets) which will be released over the next few months.

In the announcement post, Steven Sinofsky notes that they’ve seen an insane level of participation in testing the pre-release version of Windows 8. Over 16 million PCs have participated, including the roughly 7 million PCs that participated in the Release Preview which the company made available for download 8 weeks ago. So, what’s next? We know that general availability will be on October 26th, but when will the build be available through official channels for us early adopters?

Here’s a timeline of when the bits will be released to various marketplaces:

August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions.

August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions.

August 16th: Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.

August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.

I founded and regularly wrote blog posts on GeekSmack from 2008 until 2011, when I failed at running a blog. I now write about Microsoft for Techie-Buzz. When not writing blog posts, I'm usually found designing websites and learning how to code. You should follow me on Twitter here.